The Pajama Chef

Ginger Banana Waffles

July 12, 2013July 9, 2014 Sarah

Can I let you in on a little secret? I have a love/hate relationship with ginger. It’s good… but can be juuuust a bit overwhelming. Before I got married, I was kind of ambivalent about ginger. Sure, it went well in cookies but anything else? Cinnamon was my sweet spice of choice. But I married a ginger fiend, and branched out into the world of crystallized ginger and fresh ginger. Pretty scary times, I tell ya. Especially when you add a little too much to a smoothie. Holy spice! In these waffles though, I embraced my [warm] spicy side and invited ginger to join banana in a tasty breakfast treat. These waffles have just the right amount of flavor to satisfy ginger lovers and ginger tolerators alike. 🙂 The perfect compromise! [Now, if we could just agree on movies…]

As much as I loooove pancakes, some days, only a nice crisp, airy waffle will do. While I can practically make pancakes blindfolded [I should totally try that sometime], waffles can be a little more complex. The batter has to have just the right amount of flour and liquid and fat [yup–I said it] to cook properly in the iron and not stick or ooze out the sides or any equally unpleasant thing. And I’ve had some waffle DISASTERS before, so I know the importance of a good recipe. Trying out a new one is always a little scary, but I’m glad I took the risk, because Ben says they’re some of the best waffles he’s ever had. With banana and ginger, how can you go wrong? Plus, with this recipe, even cranking up the heat on the waffle iron doesn’t make them burn so you can enjoy all the crisp airiness of waffles without losing the flavor.

These Ginger Banana Waffles bake up easy and delicious–perfect for a lazy weekend morning, or a quick weeknight dinner. The recipe only makes 6, which is great for the two of us, but you might want to double it for a family–or for leftovers. A couple years ago, I went through a huge waffle phase where I’d cook up big batches and then cool and freeze ’em in those large gallon-size ziploc bags. Then in the morning, I’d pop out a waffle and voila! Instant breakfast. It was great. I should do that again. But in the meantime, totally try these waffles this weekend–you can’t go wrong with the taste of sweet banana and warm spice. Enjoy!

Ginger Banana Waffles

Servings: 6 waffles
Time: 30 minutes
Print

adapted from Cooks.com

Ingredients:

2 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
up to 1/4 cup skim milk [if necessary]

Directions:

Preheat waffle iron according to manufacturer directions.

In a small bowl, stir together the bananas, buttermilk, egg, and oil. In a separate, large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, ginger, and cinnamon. Fold wet ingredients into the dry ones, stirring until just blended together. Add more milk if batter is too thick–it should be somewhat easy to pour.

Cook on preheated waffle iron until golden brown. Serve with sliced bananas and maple syrup.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck and Foodie Friday.

Desserts, Pies, Recipes

SRC: Pineapple Cream Pie

July 8, 2013May 6, 2015 Sarah

It’s a Secret Recipe Club Monday! They are my favorite Mondays so I’m excited. 🙂 This month I made a great Pineapple Cream Pie to share with you. And I wish you were here with me now I so I could give you a piece, because it’s a sweet, creamy, tropical treat. We loved it!

If you’re new, you might be a bit confused. SRC? What’s that? Let me explain. It’s a pretty amazing blogging club. Basically, the premise is this: you’re assigned a different member’s blog every month. You visit their blog, choose any recipe you want, then make it and share it on your blog… all while keeping your assignment a secret! Everyone else posts about their secret blog the same day. It’s fabulously fun to try out new blogs. If you have a blog, definitely check it out and consider joining! I highly recommend it.

When I was assigned Lisa’s blog, before I even started perusing her recipe index, I knew I had to make a dessert recipe, no question about it. I mean, with a blog called Sweet as Sugar Cookies, how could I not?!? Lisa is such a sweetie [word choice –> totally on purpose!!]. She’s from Hawaii [how cool is that?] and she’s been baking since she was 12, so she has tons of great recipes on her site. Her passions aside from baking include her faith and her family, both of which come through so clearly on her site. When trying to decide what to make, so many things sounded delicious, but I pretty much narrowed it down quickly to this pie or ice cream. I just got an ice cream maker, and have yet to test it out. I think that all of her ice creams sound divine [especially spicy peanut butter, ginger, or cherry] but I wasn’t able to clear the freezer out quickly enough to make that happen. Sad day. So pie it was!! And guess what–making this pie was not a sacrifice at all. It was so tasty!

This Pineapple Cream Pie is a snap to whip up–you basically make a flavorful vanilla pudding on the stovetop, stir in crushed pineapple, and pop it all in a baked pie shell to chill for awhile. When you’re ready to enjoy a huge piece, just top with Cool Whip or whipped cream. I used Cool Whip, and as you can see, it was a little melty. Though this pie won’t win any beauty contests [mine at least… Lisa’s is gorgeous, and she has a great family story to tell about it too. Check it out here!], the taste is just incredible. I made my pie in my fail proof pie crust, but feel free to use your own recipe or even a store bought crust. Ben and I ate this as part of our 4th of July meal, and have been snacking on it ever since. I’ve seriously never had anything like it… I want to say it reminds me of Banana Cream Pie, but it really doesn’t, so you’ll just have to try out this fruity cream pie for yourself. I can just imagine eating it on the beach in Hawaii… how perfect would that be? 🙂 Mmmm. Thanks, Lisa! Enjoy!

Pineapple Cream Pie

Servings: 8-10
Time: 1 hour active + time to chill--at least 6 hours total, can be spread out across a couple days
Print

pie from Sweet as Sugar Cookies, crust from Simply Recipes

Pineapple Cream Pie via thepajamachef.com - a creamy, tropical treat!

Ingredients:

for the crust

8 ounces unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and frozen for at least 15 minutes, but better 1 hour to overnight
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-6 tablespoons ice water [very very cold water]

[You can also substitute your own pie crust recipe or a storebought crust.]

for the pie filling

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon flour
2 1/2 cups skim milk
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 20 ounce can crushed pineapple, well drained [crushed pineapple to equal about 1 packed cup]

for topping

6-8 ounces Cool Whip or whipped cream

Directions:

To make pie crust, begin by freezing 8 ounces [1 stick] unsalted butter, cubed into very small pieces. Preferably, this will be done the day before you want to make the crust, but the butter needs to freeze for at least 15 minutes to an hour for ultimate flakiness.

After butter is frozen, combine flour, sugar, and salt in food processor and pulse several times. Add half of the butter and pulse 6-8 times, then add the rest and pulse 6-8 more times. At this point, the dough should resemble cornmeal. Add ice water tablespoon by tablespoon, pulsing in between additions. I usually use about 4-5 tablespoons water, and the goal is to make the dough just hold together when you pinch it.

Turn dough out onto a clean countertop and gently knead it together to form a disk. You should be able to see pieces of butter–this is good, and will cause it to be flaky. Cover disk with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour [or overnight].

When ready to bake pie crust, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let dough come to room temperature for about 5 minutes, then roll into a 10-11 inch circle on a floured countertop. Transfer to a 9 inch pie plate, then lightly spray with cooking spray and cover with aluminum foil. Add pie weights of some type [pennies, dried beans, rice] to the top of the foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove pie from oven, reduce heat to 375 degrees, and remove foil and pie weights. Return to pie to oven and bake for 12-18 minutes or until crust is golden brown and fully cooked. Set aside to cool while preparing the pie filling. [At this point, crust can be cooled and covered until the next day.]

To make the pie filling, combine sugar, salt, cornstarch, flour, milk, and egg yolk in a large saucepan. Whisk together until smooth–yolks beaten, cornstarch and flour making no lumps. Set saucepan over medium heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. The mixture should thicken as you go, and once boiling, let cook for 1 minute and keep stirring. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Stir until butter melts, then add crushed pineapple. Stir and add to baked pie shell.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours to allow filling to firm up, then top with Cool Whip or whipped cream as desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

P.S. For more great SRC recipes, check out the links below! 🙂

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

July 7, 2013July 6, 2013 Sarah

Week of July 8

Monday: chicken & stars risotto w/ a side salad
Tuesday: veggie herb pasta w/ a side salad
Wednesday: crockpot mexican chicken burritos w/ green beans
Thursday: pork chops in apricot sauce w/ a side salad & roasted potatoes
Friday: leftovers
Saturday: out to eat
Sunday: breakfast for dinner/grilled cheese/smoothies & popcorn or some other really simple dinner

Reviews

Book Review: Sweet Sanctuary

July 3, 2013July 2, 2013 Sarah

Today I have a super sweet, charming, and perfectly pleasant historical fiction novel to share with you all! Sweet Sanctuary by Kim Vogel Sawyer was graciously provided to me by the folks at Bethany House Publishers through their blogging review program.

Here is a description of the book from the publisher:

Lydia Eldredge and Dr. Micah Hatcher both have secrets to protect. Lydia longs to provide sanctuary for her young son Nicky. Micah spends his days doctoring the immigrant population of Queens. But under cover of darkness, he has undertaken a secret mission to help the innocent victims of a war far away. When Lydia and Micah become wrapped up in each other’s callings, can they find refuge and hope in one another—and the God they serve?

And, as usual… my five point review:

I have only read one other book by Kim Vogel Sawyer before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect with Sweet Sanctuary. As much as I enjoy reading Christian fiction, many books share the same themes and plot lines. I have noticed that Bethany House tends to publish books with a bit more oomph, suspense, and passion–but generally, Christian novels kind of blur together. Great for escape reading, not so much for a challenge. This novel is not like that. Kim Vogel Sawyer does not shy away from tackling hard issues like custody of children, drug addiction, or the dilemma of following the laws of your nation versus following the calling of your God. And she does it well.
I was initially drawn to this novel because it is set in 1944, at the tail end of World War II. I’m very interested in that time period, and read a lot of fiction and nonfiction about that era–novels, memoirs, biographies, etc. Check out my Goodreads board if you are interested in author/book suggestions [Pam Jenoff is excellent]. Being that this is a Christian novel, I wasn’t sure what to expect but once again, I was blown away by how well this novel was written. The author does not treat war and the Holocaust in general terms, but she uses specific characters and themes to address these subjects thoughtfully and respectfully. I also like how she is mindful of American prejudices towards immigrants and Jews during World War II and analyzes these through the lens of a faith-based, counter-cultural approach to life [especially demonstrated by the dashing, heroic Dr. Micah Hatcher.]
Speaking of Micah, he was definitely my favorite character. He was well written, likable, and someone who I would aspire to be more like. He is a man of integrity and cares for immigrants, widows, and orphans as God calls us to do. The entire time I read, I was cheering for his romance with Lydia… but does it all play out as you would expect?!? You’ll have to read to find out. 🙂 I was certainly a bit surprised at the end. **wink, wink!
My biggest complaint with the novel is that it discusses so many issues. I’ve already mentioned the drug addiction, the war, and custody of children [i.e. Lydia’s son, Nicky, who she raises for her friend who passed away]. There are more hard issues in this book, like violence and poverty. It’s a complicated story, with many characters and needs. It’s a little hard to keep track of everything as you’re reading… but then again, isn’t it similar to life in that regard?
Overall, I highly recommend Sweet Sanctuary. I will definitely be checking out more of Kim Vogel Sawyer’s books at my local library. There are so many fun, thought-provoking themes in this novel to explore regarding faith, the love we [should] have for children [that society does not always demonstrate well], and doing the right thing no matter what… I would love to discuss this book with you if you’ve read it, and if you haven’t, go find a copy now! It is EXCELLENT! 🙂

What are you reading lately?

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers. However, I was not required to write a positive review. The thoughts expressed above are entirely my own. Thanks to Bethany House for the chance to read this great book!

Beverages, Recipes

Honey Lemon Thyme Iced Tea

July 1, 2013July 5, 2013 Sarah

If you were to come visit me, the first thing I’d do would be to have you take a glimpse of our porch. It’s pretty much my favorite thing ever in the summertime.

We don’t really have room [or enough direct sunlight] to grow veggies, but every summer I grow tons of potted herbs. This summer we have rosemary, catnip, lemon thyme, parsley, chocolate mint, and spearmint [RIP summer savory]. I’m a lemon thyme newbie, and I am absolutely positively in loooove. Not only is the sweet and citrusy lemon thyme awesome in a tossed salad, but it makes a mean simple syrup that we’ve been chugging for the past two weeks straight. Seriously. Well, in my favorite Cold Brew Iced Tea… but we are SO addicted. [FYI Lipton has no idea who I am. I just like their Iced Tea.] It is so refreshing, smooth, and fun… a fabulous drink for the summer.

If you’ve never had lemon thyme before, you should get yourself some just for this recipe. It’s wonderfully aromatic and fresh. If you can’t find any, you can substitute common thyme and add the zest of one lemon to the simple syrup. Basically, this simple syrup is a spinoff of my Iced Tea with Ginger-Mint Simple Syrup from last summer. Both are excellent in their own way, but what truly sets this Honey Lemon Thyme Simple Syrup apart is the honey base. Simple syrup is made by dissolving sugar in water on the stove, and infusing it with a variety of fruits, herbs, or any other additions of your choice. White sugar is my go-to sweetener for simple syrup, but I am so glad that I decided to experiment with honey this time for a bit of natural sweetness. It was a rockin’ success–the honey added a nutty, woodsy sweetness and paired perfectly with the tart lemon juice and the herby goodness of lemon thyme.

Now, I haven’t tried this… but both Ben and I agree that a little bit of Bourbon would be an excellent addition to this iced tea for a little grown-up fun. Let me know if you decide to try it that way–but even if you don’t, be sure to make some Honey Lemon Thyme Simple Syrup to flavor your iced tea for the 4th of July or any other special [or ordinary] summer day. Enjoy!

Honey Lemon Thyme Iced Tea [a TPC original]
click to print

Ingredients:

1/3 cup honey
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup + 1 quart water, divided [filtered if you prefer]
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup lemon thyme, roughly chopped
2 large “family-size” cold brew iced tea bags [or the equivalent of regular tea bags if you prefer iced tea made some other way… I like cold brew iced tea cause it’s easy]

Directions:

In a small saucepan, combine honey, sugar, 1 cup water, lemon juice, and lemon thyme. Stir over medium heat for 3-4 minutes until sugar dissolves. Turn heat to low then simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and steep for 20 minutes.

While simple syrup is steeping, prepare iced tea. Combine 1 quart water and tea bags in a large pitcher [mine is probably ~1 1/4 quarts] and let steep for 8-10 minutes, or until tea is brewed to desired preference. Place in refrigerator to chill.

After syrup has steeped 20 minutes, pour syrup through a fine strainer into a large measuring cup or bowl. Refrigerate syrup, strainer and all [to catch any last lingering drops of syrup caught up in the lemon thyme].

After tea and syrup have chilled, stir in syrup to taste. I used a generous 1/4 cup and found that plenty sweet for me, but it was nowhere near Southern sweet tea so if that’s your thing, use more. Store extra syrup in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Time: 2 hours [15 minutes active].

Yield: 6-8 servings tea, 2 cups simple syrup.

Linked with: Weekend Potluck.